Abstract

Suture granuloma is a benign, rare complication of surgical intervention and it is known to occur after the use of non-absorbable suture materials deep within the skin. Although suture granuloma can occur anywhere in the body after a variety of operations, its incidence has rapidly diminished in recent years since the widespread use of absorbable suture materials. Clinically, making the differential diagnosis with recurrent cancer is obviously important for a cancer patient because postoperative suture granuloma can mimic local tumor recurrence after surgical resection. We recently encountered a case of rectal suture granuloma in a patient with rectal cancer and who underwent low anterior resection 4 years previously. The diagnosis was made according to the characteristic image findings of endoscopic ultrasonography and the abdominal CT scan. The patient was successfully treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics, US-guided incision and drainage. We report here on a rare case of rectal suture granuloma and we briefly review the relevant literature. (Korean J Gastrointest Endosc 2009;39:46-49)

• Keywords: Suture granuloma, Rectum, Endoscopic ultrasonography